Torchwood Fairytales
by Grace Musica
Summary: A different spin on the histories of our favorite Torchwood characters. Spoilers within.
1. The Prince

Chapter One: The Prince  
Date Written: 4/14/08  
Rating: T to be safe  
Word Count: 1173  
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Doctor/Rose, Doctor/Rose, Jack/Ianto  
Spoilers: Season One and Season Two  
Warnings: None, really.  
Author's Notes: Ever had a bunny that refuses to die and keeps you up at night? Yeah, that happened.

So you want a story, huh? Well, I don't know if this is appropriate for someone like you, little one, but you just settle back and listen, okay? And don't tell your Mum, she'll kill me.

But you knew that, right?

Anyway, a story. One you've never heard before, with kings and queens and all sorts of things like that.

All right. I've got one.

Once upon a time -- and stop looking at me with that look, 'cause all stories start like that -- there was a young prince. He was handsome and strong and smart, so very smart. But he wasn't a good prince, like the princes you see in the Disney movies your Mum buys you, he was a bad guy. He hurt a lot of people, hurt them very badly.

Why? Well you see, he'd had something very important taken away from him, and he wanted the kingdom that stole it to give back what was his. He used people he met, used them and then discarded them. He never saw them as people, just as objects, as a means to an end.

Sad, isn't it?

Anyway, one day the prince ended up in the middle of a war. Like the wars in the history books you read at school. He had stolen something he thought was harmless and was trying to bait those that had stolen from him into giving it back. He took the object he'd stolen and changed its apperance so it looked very, very valuble and put it somewhere where it shouldn't have gone.

Unfortunately the object the prince had thought was harmless wasn't, and it started hurting the people who lived in the area. It was all very sad, and quite a few people got hurt until someone very important showed up. You know how this goes, right?

A princess? No, no princess. More like a goddess, beautiful and blonde and completely out of her element, along with a goofy-looking god, all big ears and an even bigger smile.

Well, of _course_ there are unpretty gods. If everyone looked gorgeous, the world would be boring. And he was gorgeous too, in an odd sort of way. Arrogant, and weird, and slightly mad, but he shone like the sun. Both of them, in their blue chariot.

The god and the goddess came along and fixed the prince's mistake. They almost died fixing it, but the prince -- for once -- felt something for them; love, admiration, amazement, and the prince saved them.

He almost died, the prince, but the god and the goddess saved him in turn, taking him into their blue chariot and whisking him off through the heavens. They showed the prince things he'd never seen before, showed him things inside himself that he had buried so long before, things he'd thought had died long, long ago.

And then the Enemy came. An Enemy of All, of life, of humanity. They came for the god, and the goddess, and the prince.

The god and the prince, you see, they loved the goddess. Loved her more than anything, so they sent her away. Locked her up in the chariot and sent her home to her mother, back where she truly belonged.

Gods and goddesses do TO have mothers!

Anyway, the god and the prince, they fought the Enemy with all they had, but the Enemy was too strong. They killed all the brave warriors who fought aside them, who fell for their cause. And the prince fell as well, dying bravely, not backing down.

Don't start crying, little one. I'm nowhere near finished with the story.

The goddess, on the other hand, also loved the god, and the prince too, I think. And she fought her way back to the god and the prince, descending from the heavens in a spinning chariot of blue, the wrath of the Heavens burning brightly in her eyes. She saved humanity, destroyed the Enemy, and brought the prince back from the land of the dead.

And then they left, the god and the goddess, leaving the prince behind to carry on without them.

The prince felt betrayed, sad, completely outcast, and he hated them for a long, long time. Hated them for reawakening the part of living that makes it harder to live, the loving, the caring, the part that makes you do the right thing no matter the cost. He vowed to find them again, if only to give them a piece of his mind, to find a reason why he'd been left behind.

So he moved and founded a new kingdom, protecting his new adopted people from all the Enemies in the wide universe, building up his kingdom until he had the best court in all the land. He had his Captain of the Guard, a feisty woman who loved everything and everyone so wholy it was painful. He had his Chief Advisor, a beautiful, amazingly brilliant woman who could pull victory out of sure defeat and did, every other day without breaking a sweat. He had his Head of Healing, who was a sarcastic jerk on the outside but was actually very caring and devoted. And he had his Seneschal, his Steward, the most devoted and amazing man to ever grace the prince's halls.

They lived happily together, defeating challenger after challenger and coming out victorious every time.

And then the prince did something very, very stupid.

He found the god again, and his blue chariot. And the prince abandoned his kingdom, his people, for the god.

The god had changed, and the blonde goddess had gone home to somewhere where she was safe from the Enemies. The god was accompanied by a new traveller, a beautiful priestess-in-training with dark skin and a brilliant wit.

The prince messed up again, and almost made the entirety of All that Is fall into complete and utter ruin. But the god pulled victory from the jaws of defeat once again, and made everything right. He asked the prince to stay with him, to see the things they'd seen once all over again, but something had changed within the prince.

He had a duty to his people, to his friends, those he loved, to return to them. So he did.

And they were angry. Oh, angry doesn't even describe how mad they were at him! Furious, irate, enraged. He almost lost them all thanks to his own stupidity, but they eventually softened their hearts and forgave him.

And life moved on. Battles were fought, and were won, and were lost. And the prince's court changed, a new Advisor, a new Healer; the Captain with a beautiful son, a new subject for the prince to protect. And ever his devoted Seneschal by his side, loving and beloved in turn.

Now look you, you can't even keep your eyes open. Sleep now. Your Mum and Dad'll be home when you wake up in the morning. And me and Uncle Ianto'll be here if you have a bad dream during the night.  
--


	2. The Lighthouse

Title: Torchwood Fairy Tales  
Chapter Two: The Lighthouse's Tale  
LJ community horizonssing Challenge: Day Twenty-Nine  
Date Written: 7/31/08  
Rating: G/K  
Word Count: 265  
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto  
Spoilers: Up through DW 04 and TW 02  
Warnings: None  
Author's Notes: The prompt of a lighthouse made me think of this song straight off the bat – "The Lighthouse's Tale", by Nickle Creek, one of my favorite songs.

Once upon a time, there was a lighthouse.

Now this doesn't sound like a very convincing start to a story, I know, but stay with me, sweetheart. This wasn't just any old regular lighthouse, it was a lighthouse that had been built during a horrible war, worse than anything you can play at with your tin soldiers. Legends said that a beautiful goddess had created it to shine, a beacon to guide humanity to where it was supposed to go instead of crashing against the rocky shore.

The lighthouse stood for many, many years on the Bay, trying to shine, but it got dirty. Its keepers, you see, didn't realize the lighthouse for the beauty that it was and they dirtied it, smudging the glass up and letting the white walls fade and turn brown. And before long, the lighthouse was all alone, with no one there to care for it.

I know, it's very sad.

Then, one day, a young man forced his way into the lighthouse and slowly started making little changes; a fresh coat of paint here, a polished banister there. Clean glass to shine through, pictures of loved ones hanging on the walls. And the lighthouse became better than it ever had, shining forth for anyone who needed it, because it had a keeper who loved it, and a keeper it loved more than anything in the whole world.

Now, young man, that's your bedtime story for tonight. You behave yourself for Uncle Jack and Uncle Ianto while me and your dad are out tonight, you hear?

Good night, little love.


End file.
